Natural Resources News provides timely information, featured events, helpful resources and deep dives into natural resources and environmental issues.
![A white weasel in the snow](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/weasel-unsplash.jpg?h=b2e3b8be&itok=JRi_9kjs)
Keep yourself busy this winter by taking part in our weekly nature activity challenge. This week see if you can find an animal wearing winter camouflage.
![A pile of deer scat](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/deer-scat.jpg?h=bbaa1a72&itok=yOEOEyG3)
Keep yourself busy this winter by taking part in our weekly nature activity challenge. This week we're getting down and dirty to examine what our local wildlife has left behind.
![A man looks through binoculars at a river valley in winter.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/river-man-binoculars-winter.jpg?h=0ee69755&itok=khwCIZZw)
Keep yourself busy this winter by taking part in our weekly nature activity challenge. This week visit some open water to see what animals you can spot.
![Chaga on a birch tree.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/chaga1.jpg?h=7ed7d581&itok=Rcdb8Emu)
Chaga can be found on birch trees in forests across Minnesota and is prized for its medicinal uses.
![A snowy owl flies through the air clutching its captured prey](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/snowy-owl-mathew-schwartz-unsplash.jpg?h=2c8d63f9&itok=FQ5VRntN)
Looking for ways to keep yourself busy this winter? Once a week for the next 12 weeks we will share a new nature activity for you to try, and we're kicking it off with owling!
![A pine forest.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/EnvArea-Forestry.png?h=c744404a&itok=qX0yZ-93)
Family woodland owners are some of Minnesota's greatest stewards of our forests.
![White-tailed deer eating leaves.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/Photo%20B%20White-tailed%20deer%20eating%20leaves.jpg?h=e14a032e&itok=x52vbIFo)
With deer hunting season well underway and many people in the woods, it's a great time to learn more about a deer's diet and how to identify deer browse.
![Red barberry leaves in fall.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/barberry.jpg?h=f624cf81&itok=IQqSoCOa)
You can help reduce the spread of invasive species by reporting what you find while out in the woods using the Great Lakes Early Detection Network app.
![Red pine forest.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/100-year-old%20red%20pine%20stand%20was%20thinned%20once%20at%2040%20years.jpg?h=0b618a32&itok=-Z5ckF6Y)
Red pine is an iconic species in Minnesota. How well it does in the future will depend on the climate and how it is grown.
![Green leafy vine with white spiked flowers growing around a tree by a river.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/wild-cucumber-vine-bugwood.jpg?h=f3babeb1&itok=OvXzM4Ot)
Wild cucumber vine is growing all over their fences, gardens and the side of the road. Its strange, spiky fruit adds to its mystery.